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The Mystery of Methane on Mars and Titan
The Mystery of Methane on Mars & Titan By Sushil K. Atreya MARS has long been thought of as a possible abode of life. The discovery of methane in its atmosphere has rekindled those visions. The visible face of Mars looks nearly static, apart from a few wispy clouds (white). But the methane hints at a beehive of biological or geochemical activity underground. Of all the planets in the solar system other than Earth, own way, revealing either that we are not alone in the universe Mars has arguably the greatest potential for life, either extinct or that both Mars and Titan harbor large underground bodies or extant. It resembles Earth in so many ways: its formation of water together with unexpected levels of geochemical activ- process, its early climate history, its reservoirs of water, its vol- ity. Understanding the origin and fate of methane on these bod- canoes and other geologic processes. Microorganisms would fit ies will provide crucial clues to the processes that shape the right in. Another planetary body, Saturn’s largest moon Titan, formation, evolution and habitability of terrestrial worlds in also routinely comes up in discussions of extraterrestrial biology. this solar system and possibly in others. In its primordial past, Titan possessed conditions conducive to Methane (CH4) is abundant on the giant planets—Jupiter, the formation of molecular precursors of life, and some scientists Saturn, Uranus and Neptune—where it was the product of chem- believe it may have been alive then and might even be alive now. ical processing of primordial solar nebula material. On Earth, To add intrigue to these possibilities, astronomers studying though, methane is special. -
Astrobiology for a General Reader
Astrobiology for a General Reader Astrobiology for a General Reader: A Questions and Answers Approach By Vera M. Kolb and Benton C. Clark III Astrobiology for a General Reader: A Questions and Answers Approach By Vera M. Kolb and Benton C. Clark III This book first published 2020 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2020 by Vera M. Kolb and Benton C. Clark III All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-5502-X ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-5502-0 V. M. K. dedicates this book to the memory of her dear brother, Vladimir Kolb. B. C. C. dedicates this book to the memory of his beloved wife, Johanna. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ....................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgments ..................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 .................................................................................................... 1 What is astrobiology? Chapter 2 .................................................................................................... 5 Understanding the concept of life within the astrobiology framework: -
The Science of Astrobiology
The Science of Astrobiology Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ________________________________________________________________ Volume 20 (Second Edition) ________________________________________________________________ Julian Chela-Flores The Science of Astrobiology A Personal View on Learning to Read the Book of Life Julian Chela-Flores The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics P.O. Box 586 34014 Trieste Italy [email protected] ISSN 1566-0400 ISBN 978-94-007-1626-1 e-ISBN 978-94-007-1627-8 DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-1627-8 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2011934255 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) The cupola in the West Atrium of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy representing the biblical interpretation of Genesis (Cf., also pp. 215-216 at the beginning of Part 4: The destiny of life in the universe. With kind permission of the Procuratoria of St. Mark's Basilica.) For Sarah Catherine Mary Table of contents Table of contents vii Preface xvii Acknowledgements xxi Recommendations to the readers xxiii INTRODUCTION The cultural and scientific context of astrobiology I.1 Early attempts to read the Book of Life 3 ARISTARCHUS OF SAMOS AND HIPPARCHUS 4 NICHOLAS OF CUSA (CUSANUS) 4 NICHOLAS COPERNICUS 4 GIORDANO BRUNO 5 CHARLES DARWIN 6 I.2 Some pioneers of the science of astrobiology 8 ALEXANDER OPARIN 8 STANLEY MILLER 10 SIDNEY W. -
1 National Press Club Headliners Luncheon with Ellen Stofan, Director, National Air and Space Museum Subject: the Future of T
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB HEADLINERS LUNCHEON WITH ELLEN STOFAN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM SUBJECT: THE FUTURE OF THE MUSEUM MODERATOR: DONNA LEINWAND OF THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB LOCATION: NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, HOLEMAN LOUNGE, WASHINGTON, D.C. TIME: 1:00 P.M. DATE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2018 (c) COPYRIGHT 2018, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, 529 14TH STREET, WASHINGTON, DC - 20045, USA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ANY REPRODUCTION, REDISTRIBUTION OR RETRANSMISSION IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION, REDISTRIBUTION OR RETRANSMISSION CONSTITUTES A MISAPPROPRIATION UNDER APPLICABLE UNFAIR COMPETITION LAW, AND THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB RESERVES THE RIGHT TO PURSUE ALL REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO IT IN RESPECT TO SUCH MISAPPROPRIATION. FOR INFORMATION ON BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, PLEASE CALL 202-662-7505. ANDREA EDNEY: –Andrea Edney. A couple of really important announcements. The first one is, this is your device. This is your device on mute, vibrate, silence, et cetera. If your phone rings, I'm going to point at you on live television. So please take this opportunity to silence your cell phone now. Also, if you are on Twitter, we do encourage you to tweet during the program. Our hashtag today is #NPCLive. That's #NPCLive. And then also, you have on your table these fabulous cards. If you have questions for our speaker today, please write your questions on these cards. Please print or write as legibly as you can. If you write in cursive, your chance of my reading your question on TV is about the same as the Mega Millions lottery. [laughter] So please print. And then when you've written your question, you can pass it up to the head table, however you want to do it. -
George Lakoff and Mark Johnsen (2003) Metaphors We Live By
George Lakoff and Mark Johnsen (2003) Metaphors we live by. London: The university of Chicago press. Noter om layout: - Sidetall øverst - Et par figurer slettet - Referanser til slutt Innholdsfortegnelse i Word: George Lakoff and Mark Johnsen (2003) Metaphors we live by. London: The university of Chicago press. ......................................................................................................................1 Noter om layout:...................................................................................................................1 Innholdsfortegnelse i Word:.................................................................................................1 Contents................................................................................................................................4 Acknowledgments................................................................................................................6 1. Concepts We Live By .....................................................................................................8 2. The Systematicity of Metaphorical Concepts ...............................................................11 3. Metaphorical Systematicity: Highlighting and Hiding.................................................13 4. Orientational Metaphors.................................................................................................16 5. Metaphor and Cultural Coherence .................................................................................21 6 Ontological -
How Life Could Thrive on Hostile Worlds (PDF)
Astrobiology Extreme organisms on Earth show us just how weird life elsewhere could be. by Chris Impey How life could thrive on Humans have left their mark all over Earth. We’re proud of our role as nature’s generalists — perhaps not as swift as the gazelle or as strong as the gorilla, but still pretty good at most things. Alone among all species, technology has given us dominion over the planet. Humans are endlessly plucky and adaptable; it seems we can do anything. Yet in truth, we’re frail. From the safety of our living rooms, we may admire the people who conquer Everest or cross deserts. But without technology, we couldn’t live beyond Earth’s temperate zones. We cannot survive outside for long below freezing or above 104° Fahrenheit (40° Celsius). We can stay under water only as long as we can hold our breath. Without water to drink we’d die in 3 days. Microbes, on the other hand, are hardy. And within the microbial world lies a band of extremists, organisms that thrive in conditions that would cook, crush, smother, and dissolve most other forms of life. Collectively, they are known as extremophiles, which means, literally, “lovers of extremes.” Extremophiles are found at temperatures above the boiling point and below the freezing point of water, in high salinity, and in strongly acidic conditions. Some can live deep inside rock, and others can go into a freeze-dried “wait state” for tens of thousands of years. Some of these microbes harvest energy from meth- ane, sulfur, and even iron. -
Jill Tarter PUBLIC LECTURE TRANSCRIPT
Jill Tarter PUBLIC LECTURE TRANSCRIPT March 3, 2015 KANE HALL 130 | 7:30 P.M. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION, page 1 Marie Clement, Graduate Student, Chemistry FEATURED SPEAKER, page 1 Jill Tarter, Bernard M. Oliver chair for SETI Q&A SESSION, page 8 OFFICE OF PUBLIC LECTURES So our speaker tonight is Dr. Jill Cornell Tarter. Jill Tarter holds INTRODUCTION the Bernard M. Oliver chair for SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. Tarter received her Bachelor of Engineering Physics degree with distinction from Cornell University and her Marie Clement master's degree and Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California Berkeley. She served as project scientist for NASA Graduate Student SETI program, the High Resolution Microwave Survey, and has conducted numerous observational programs at radio Good evening, and welcome to tonight's Jessie and John Danz observatories worldwide. Since the termination of funding for endowed public lecture with Jill Cornell Tarter. I am Marie NASA SETI program in 1993, she has served in a leadership role Clement, a graduate student in the chemistry department and a to secure private funding to continue this exploratory science. member of the student organization, Women in Chemical Tarter’s work has brought her wide recognition in the scientific Sciences. Before we introduce tonight's speaker, I want to community, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from share some background about the generous gift to the Women in Aerospace, two Public Service Medals from NASA, University of Washington that allows the Graduate School to Chabot Observatory’s Person of the Year award, Women of host the series: the Jessie and John Danz Endowment. -
Life: What a Concept! Edge
Edge http://www.edge.org Life: What A Concept! An Edge Special Event at Eastover Farm Freeman Dyson J. Craig Venter George Church Robert Shapiro Dimitar Sasselov Seth Lloyd John Brockman, editor [ Front Cover ] LIFE: WHAT A CONCEPT! An Edge Special Event at Eastover Farm Freeman Dyson - J. Craig Venter - George Church Robert Shapiro - Dimitar Sasselov - Seth Lloyd John Brockman, editor Copyright 2008 © Edge Foundation, Inc. All Rights reserved. Published by EDGE Foundation, Inc., 5 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022 EDGE Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit private operating foundation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 4 2. FREEMAN DYSON 10 3. J. CRAIG VENTER 37 4. GEORGE CHURCH 61 5. ROBERT SHAPIRO 84 6. DIMITAR SASSELOV 113 7. SETH LLOYD 142 INTRODUCTION “Life Consists of propositions about life." — Wallace Stevens ("Men Made out of Words") ————— In April, Dennis Overbye, writing in The New York Times "Science Times", broke the story of the discovery by Dimitar Sasselov and his colleagues of five earth- like exo-planets, one of which "might be the first habitable planet outside the solar system". - 4 - Life: What a Concept! Introduction At the end of June, Craig Venter has announced the results of his lab's work on genome transplantation methods that allows for the transformation of one type of bacteria into another, dictated by the transplanted chromosome. In other words, one species becomes another. In talking to /Edge /about the research, Venter noted the following: Now we know we can boot up a chromosome system. -
Kardashev's Classification at 50+: a Fine Vehicle with Room For
KARDASHEV’S CLASSIFICATION AT 50+: A FINE VEHICLE WITH ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT M. M. Cirkovi´c´ 1,2 1Astronomical Observatory, Volgina 7, 11060 Belgrade 38, Serbia 2Future of Humanity Institute, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Suite 8, Littlegate House, 16/17 St Ebbe’s Street, Oxford, OX1 1PT, UK E–mail: [email protected] (Received: November 27, 2015; Accepted: November 27, 2015) SUMMARY: We review the history and status of the famous classification of extraterrestrial civilizations given by the great Russian astrophysicist Nikolai Se- menovich Kardashev, roughly half a century after it has been proposed. While Kar- dashev’s classification (or Kardashev’s scale) has often been seen as oversimplified, and multiple improvements, refinements, and alternatives to it have been suggested, it is still one of the major tools for serious theoretical investigation of SETI issues. During these 50+ years, several attempts at modifying or reforming the classifica- tion have been made; we review some of them here, together with presenting some of the scenarios which present difficulties to the standard version. Recent results in both theoretical and observational SETI studies, especially the Gˆ infrared survey (2014-2015), have persuasively shown that the emphasis on detectability inherent in Kardashev’s classification obtains new significance and freshness. Several new move- ments and conceptual frameworks, such as the Dysonian SETI, tally extremely well with these developments. So, the apparent simplicity of the classification is highly deceptive: Kardashev’s work offers a wealth of still insufficiently studied method- ological and epistemological ramifications and it remains, in both letter and spirit, perhaps the worthiest legacy of the SETI “founding fathers”. -
States of Origin: Influences on Research Into the Origins of Life
COPYRIGHT AND USE OF THIS THESIS This thesis must be used in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Reproduction of material protected by copyright may be an infringement of copyright and copyright owners may be entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. Section 51 (2) of the Copyright Act permits an authorized officer of a university library or archives to provide a copy (by communication or otherwise) of an unpublished thesis kept in the library or archives, to a person who satisfies the authorized officer that he or she requires the reproduction for the purposes of research or study. The Copyright Act grants the creator of a work a number of moral rights, specifically the right of attribution, the right against false attribution and the right of integrity. You may infringe the author’s moral rights if you: - fail to acknowledge the author of this thesis if you quote sections from the work - attribute this thesis to another author - subject this thesis to derogatory treatment which may prejudice the author’s reputation For further information contact the University’s Director of Copyright Services sydney.edu.au/copyright Influences on Research into the Origins of Life. Idan Ben-Barak Unit for the History and Philosophy of Science Faculty of Science The University of Sydney A thesis submitted to the University of Sydney as fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 Declaration I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person, nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a University or other institute of higher learning. -
Enigmas of the Universe Syllabus.Pdf
Enigmas of the Universe Chris Impey, Associate Dean and University Distinguished Professor Overview: Astronomy has seen tremendous progress in the past century. Large telescopes on the ground and in space now give us views of the universe across the electromagnetic spectrum. Powerful computers can handle exponentially increasing volumes of data and they allow simulations of remote objects and extreme astrophysics. We know how stars work, how many galaxies there are, and how to find exoplanets. Yet there is much we don’t know, and areas where our physical understanding is weak. This course is a report from the frontiers of astronomy and physics research on five aspects of the universe where profound questions remain unanswered. Meetings: Typical structure is a 50 minute lecture, then a 10 minute break, a 40 minute lecture, then 20 minutes for questions and discussion. Short descriptions of the five topics follow. The Big Bang. How did the universe begin? There’s ample observational support for the idea that the universe expanded from a hot, dense state billions of years ago. But the nature of dark matter and dark energy are unknown and the situation just after the big bang is shrouded in mystery. Black Holes. What happens in extreme regions of space-time? Nature can make black holes ranging from ten to ten billion times the Sun’s mass and the recent detection of gravitational waves confirms that black holes exist. However, gravity theory is challenged in trying to explain black holes. The God Particle. Where does mass come from? The detection of the Higgs particle filled in the missing piece of the Standard Model of particle physics. -
Interplanetary Exchange in the Solar System
52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2021 (LPI Contrib. No. 2548) 1346.pdf Interplanetary exchange in the Solar System – are we really biologically isolated? Margarita Safonova1 and Chandra Sivaram1,2, 1Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Koramangala, 2nd block, Bangalore 560034, India ([email protected]), 2([email protected]). Following the explosion of humanity’s into space. Experiments conducted in the last space exploration, Planetary Protection decades in space and on the ground Policies were introduced in 1950s [1] to confirmed that microorganisms are able to restrict the possibility of introducing survive all stages of associated hazards: terrestrial biota to outer space worlds with our impact shocks, impact ejections, and spacecraft and probes (termed forward interplanetary transfer. Some are capable of contamination). In addition, they were also doing it even without much of the protection, intended to regulate the return of samples but most need just centimetres of rock cover from outer worlds to safeguard the Earth from (e.g. [2]). possible unfriendly organisms (back The Solar System was formed from the contamination). In this regard, the Planetary same protoplanetary disk, and findings of Protection Policies are purely complex organics in meteoroids (including anthropocentric. In case of forward amino acids and even a protein – the first contamination, the basic concern is that if we extra-terrestrial proto-solar protein, named bring terrestrial organisms to another world, it hemolithin due to the presence of iron and would confuse our scientific identification of lithium [3]) indicate that life-building blocks the indigenous life forms. In the case of back were available everywhere from the contamination, it is the Earth life that could beginning.